Imelda Staunton

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After years of toiling in supporting roles, often taking whatever came her way, actress Imelda Staunton finally received the chance to display her considerable talents when she starred as the titular character in director Mike Leigh's period drama, "Vera Drake" (2004), a role that earned the British thespian a nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Prior to her critical success on both sides of the pond, Staunton worked hard to gain prominence in her native England, spending almost three decades in small supporting roles on stage, television and in film. Though she considered herself a serious actress, Staunton relied on song and dance in the early days of her career, establishing a small degree of success for her leading role in "Guys and Dolls." Over the course of the theatre portion of her career, she managed to win several Olivier Awards, though she found her transition to the screen slow and arduous. But with "Vera Drake," Staunton blew the Hollywood doors wide open, leading to bigger and better roles in films like "Nanny McPhee" (2006), "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007) and "Alice in Wonderland" (2010), proving that talent always wins out in the end no matter how long the struggle.Born Jan. 9, 1956 in London, England, Staunton was the only child of Joseph, a road contractor and laborer, and Bridie, a hairdresser. The family migrated to London from Ireland when Bridie was still pregnant with her daughter, where they joined a large contingent of other Irish immigrants. While attending La Sainto Union Convent, Staunton took to acting and was encouraged by her elocution teacher to further her study of the craft. When she was 18, Staunton enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), graduating two years later in 1976. After plodding along for a few years in repertory theatre, Staunton joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1982, she moved on to the National Theatre, where she later won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in Alan Ayckbourn's "A Chorus of Disapproval" (1985). She then retreated into supporting parts - usually as the comic foil - before landing her most notable role up until that point at the National, playing Miss Adelaide in Richard Eyre's production of "Guys and Dolls" when bumped up from the chorus to fill the shoes left vacant by Julia McKenzie.With her stage career in full stride, Staunton became determined to not be relegated to comic supporting roles. She reinforced her prestige after winning a second Olivier for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Emlyn Williams' semi-autobiographical play, "The Corn is Green," at the Old Vic Theatre. Upping her profile yet again, she won an Olivier for Best Actress for her performance as the Baker's Wife in Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" (1991). After enjoying an extensive stage career for the better part of a decade, Staunton made the jump into film and television. A couple of small roles in forgettable films like "Comrades" (1986) and "They Never Slept" (1990) led to Staunton appearing in Beeban Kidron's "Antonia and Jane" (1990), a comedy about two old friends - one a cool beauty (Saskia Reeves); the other pudgy and lost (Staunton) - who both secretly wish to be like the other. Meanwhile, she began appearing on television as Nurse White on "The Singing Detective" (BBC-1, 1986), a musical detective series that lasted only a month on the small screen before getting canceled.Despite making the switch from stage to screen, Staunton still found herself in confining roles. But along came Shakespearean actor-director Kenneth Branagh, who later cast the actress as Mary in his ensemble drama "Peter's Friends" (1992), about a group of college friends and former members of a theater group who reunite after a decade apart. The role elevated her career, as Staunton earned kudos for her comedic performance. Branagh then cast her in his next film - albeit in a much smaller part - in his adaptation of The Bard's comedy abou